Campus News

Javor receives Chancellor’s Award

By SUE WUETCHER

Kim Javor, an instructor in the Department of Mathematics,
College of Arts and Sciences, is one of the inaugural recipients of
the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching,
the newest category in the systemwide honor conferred each year by
SUNY’s chancellor to recognize outstanding achievement by
faculty, staff and students.

“Adjunct teachers are a key component of the SUNY faculty,
providing top-quality instruction and making an important
contribution to academic success and degree completion among
students,” Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher said last week in
announcing the new award and the names of the recipients.
“Those honored with our inaugural awards are truly the best
of the best, having demonstrated extraordinary dedication to
their students and an exceptional commitment to teaching
excellence.”

Forty-six adjunct faculty members received the award, which
recognizes consistently superior teaching at the graduate,
undergraduate or professional level.

Javor, who joined the mathematics department in the spring 2009
semester, teaches a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses,
including difficult classes that typically are taught by full-time
faculty.

She previously taught at Syracuse University and in UB’s
Millard Fillmore College. She received a BA and MA in mathematics
from UB and an MS in probability and statistics from Syracuse. She
has completed coursework at Syracuse toward a PhD in mathematics
and at UB toward a master’s degree in biostatistics.

In his letter recommending Javor for the award, department chair
David J. Hemmer wrote that what sets Javor apart from other
adjuncts “is her complete dedication to her students’
understanding, and her willingness to commit vast amounts of her
time to working with them individually and in small
groups.”

Such time commitment, Hemmer noted, “is almost unheard of
for part-time adjuncts, who are being paid by the
course.”

Javor also is willing to commit time to department initiatives,
also unusual for an adjunct, he added, pointing out that almost
every semester she has volunteered to serve as a mentor to an
undergraduate teaching assistant.

Student evaluations of her teaching have been overwhelmingly
positive, and for the question “would you recommend this
instructor?” her scores are routinely above the 75th
percentile for the department, and occasionally above the 90th
percentile.

“Not a single time have they even been average, let alone
below,” Hemmer wrote. “Particularly striking is that
the comments are entirely positive, not a single disgruntled
student in the mix. This is really remarkable, and is something I
have never seen.”

Well done Kim! The mathematics department and UB are lucky to have you!

David Hemmer

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